TECHNOLOGY AND REAL ESTATE

In an article in the Journal News dated December 7, 2013, it discussed real estate agents use of gadgets and social media. The agents use I phones, Androids and electronic house entry cards. Sales agents can now connect to customers on social media. The customer never needs to leave their chair to take virtual tours of homes on the internet.

Better Homes and Gardens/Rand Realty managing partner led a tour of their new office in White Plains and showed a designed cafe with small clusters of bistro tables and electronically fitted a work cubicle against a back drop and large wall mounted monitors. On weekends, 60% of customers contact came from mobile devices. Customers use Wi-Fi internet while waiting for a showing.

The director for New York State Association of Realtors states mobility is the key technology which has helped with efficiency and getting information to the audience. Customers take virtual tours and learn about the property before they go and look at the property. The article points out consumers are better equipped and they know what is available and expect the realator to help them narrow it down so as not to introduce new properties.

GPS was one of the first advances embedding QR Codes on “For Sale” signs that allow potential buyers flush a smart phone on the sign and download the pertinent information about the property. Realtor.com has an application that lets uses snap a photo of a house from the front yard and through GPS coordinates, see what is available in the immediate neighborhood. Over 90% of the buyers and sellers who are interested in properties start on line.

Houlihan Lawrence in Scarsdale has a touch screen system mounted in the office windows that allows passerby’s to explore houses while on the sidewalk. Potential customers scroll through nearly 150 listings without having to speak with a sales agent. The touch screen has worked so well that it has been added to Houlihan’s offices in Armonk, Larchmont and White Plains. The public can use the touch screen whether the offices are open or closed. Today’s buyers are techno savvy but also anonymity hungry. They want to look on their own then talk to the agent when they are ready. On tours, people take photographs and videos of homes they like, measure rooms, plan gardens and select furniture. Phones also have functions that calculate mortgages allow electronic signatures and save material like large floor plans.

The goal of the technology is to get the customers into a house and stand in the front hall or kitchen where people really decide to buy the property. If you are in the market of buying or selling your home, contact the law firm of Dominick J. Robustelli & Associates, PLLC at (914) 288-0800.